


Flurry of Snowflakes

by SilverButterfly111



Category: Brave (2012), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies), Rise of The Brave Tangled Dragons - Fandom, Rise of the Guardians (2012), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Circus, Alternative Universe Seasons AU, Gen, I don't control you, Not really Hijack, POV Hiccup, POV Jack Frost, just one-shots, might make full fics later, unless you want to see it that way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 01:44:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20055997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverButterfly111/pseuds/SilverButterfly111
Summary: Just a trio of one-shots for story ideas that I've had in my head for a while.1. Guardian Angel AU2. Circus AU3. Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons (Season AU)Just ideas for now but if you guys like them enough I might make full length fics.





	1. First Assignment

Congratulations Jack,” North beamed; particularly looming over the smaller lithe, white-haired boy. Jack attempted a grin though he'd be lying if he said he didn't feel intimidated by the other's stature. “You are officially a Guardian.” Jack blinked ice-blue eyes up at North; unable to stop the eyebrow that was inching towards his hairline. That was it. No fanfare? No trumpets? Well this was turning out to be a lot more anticlimactic then he thought it'd be. 

“Right then,” St North clapped his hands and spun on his heel. Jack let out a muffled yelp of alarm as he dodged a massive black condor wing. 

Condors weren't even native to Russia! How on Earth and Heaven did this man get stuck with those things! Jack righted himself; his own wings flaring out in a subconscious display of annoyance. Which the Saint either did not notice or did not acknowledge. Likely both as it was evident that the man was still talking even as he walked away. 

Jack rolled his eyes. Why walk anymore at all. Wasn't that why they had these things in the first place? Jack pushed off with his feet and glided after his mentor.

The book containing the oath that Jack had just sworn was suddenly replaced by another that appeared identical. If Jack hadn't sensed the lingering magic of a spell he would have bet it was the same.

“Every person that will exist from now until the end of time.” North tapped the cover of the book.

“First assignment. You know what to do. I explain many times, go on.” North encouraged. 

Jack reached out his own hand. Brushing his fingers over the unremarkable leather binding. The tips of his fingers glowing white, The book sprang open, its pages fluttering in the sudden wind that ruffled Jack's feathers and hair; as suddenly as the pages had moved they stopped. Jack’s wings twitched as he waited for North to speak a name.

“Hiccup Haddock.”

Jack tilted his head unable to hold back the scoff of laughter that escaped him. “What sort of name is that? Do his parents hate him or something?”

“Jack.” North admonished, giving the young guardian angel a cuff on the back of the head with his massive wing. Jack didn't relent even as he stumbled a bit from the force of the blow. “What? It's a valid question. Do his parents hate him?” Jack repeated. Saint North let out a sigh pinching the bridge of his nose. “That I cannot tell you, is against rules; also against rules-”

Jack rolled his eyes. Three hundred years of this and you think people would stop reminding him. “I can't be seen. I have to stay invisible, I know, I know.” 

North beamed. “Good boy. Off you go.”

******

Jack hovered unseen in the hospital room. Watching as Hiccup took slow and steady breaths but didn't wake from sleep. Guilt sent horrible shudders through his body. He tuckered his wings into his body to make himself smaller. Hiccup's newly appointed service dog- a black German Shepherd named Toothless- lifted his head from where he lay curled by the boy’s feet atop the blankets.

_ Foot _ . Jack mentally corrected himself. Blue eyes straying to the flat part of the blanket that silently announced the absence of a limb.

Toothless looked at Jack from across the room and whined. Jack closed his eyes and choked on a sob….This was his fault...if he'd tried harder to protect the boy…. He wouldn't be here right now. 

Jack had failed.


	2. Cirque de la Lune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I figured my life is already a circus, I might as well join one."
> 
> He was expecting an apology for bringing up the topic in the first place. Or worse some attempt at sympathy. He was not expecting laughter.
> 
> Jack snorted. “Man, you're the textbook cliche!”

Welcome to Cirque de la Lune,” Hiccup Haddock could safely say that he'd had a pretty interesting life. He'd seen and heard a lot of things but he could also safely say that he'd never heard an overweight elderly man with a noticeably Russian accent say anything in French. Now he had and it was honestly quite impressive. Just like their surroundings.

“Is impressive, no?” Nicholas asked. Seemingly reading Hiccup's mind.

People in glitzy stage costumes and faces full of equally ridiculous stage makeup dodged around big guys in black, sweat-stained t-shirts marked with gray block letters reading STAGE HAND. 

Hiccup spun in a slow circle but took a step back accompanied by a startled yelp at the sudden appearance of a boy dangling upside down in the air in front of him.

If Hiccup hadn't known any better he'd swear the boy had been invisible just a few seconds ago with how quickly he'd appeared.

Blue eyes crinkled around the corners as the boy's face broke into a smirking grin wide enough to rival the Cheshire Cat; a comparison made even more accurate by the fact that the boy was still upside down and laughing at him. 

Nicholas clapped his hands together. 

“Jack, why you always above head?”

North admonished.

“Why do people never look up?” Jack countered.

North chuckled and rolled his eyes. Motioning at the boy who was now swinging back and forth with his feet tied around thick ribbons of white silk to keep him aloft.

“Is grandson, Jackson. Boy can fly.” North introduced. “Aerial silk dancer,” North waved up into the air to draw Hiccup's attention to two more people twisting themselves in swaths of fabric.

“Rapunzel.” North pointed at a blonde with her hair in a braid, held in place by a golden silk. “And Tatiana-” North pointed to a smaller woman with olive skin in a glittering green dress and a pixie cut, spinning in the air. “-But everyone around here calls her Tooth.” North clapped his hands once. Taking Hiccup's attention away from the two other aerial silk dancers. 

“Say hi, Jack. Is newest recruit.” North slapped Hiccup on the back making the younger man stumble just a bit though Hiccup recovered quickly. 

Jack snickered in amusement. Swinging his legs in the air to gain enough momentum to flip right side up. Though he still swung back and forth. Did the kid ever sit still?!

“Hey.” Jack said as he swung in the air. At least now with Hiccup mostly recovered from his shock of having the boy suddenly appear in front of his face. He could actually focus on what Jack looked like.

The boy seemed to be in his late teens. No older than twenty, with bleached white hair, bright blue eyes and an expression that seemed permanently stuck in a smirk where Hiccup was concerned.

By the time Hiccup had processed all of this along with the fact that Jack might have had silver glitter in his hair. The boy had already made progress on the task of pulling his lithe body back into the air with his shoulders. Tying the silk around his waist as he ascended.

“Rimsky-Korsakov, Jack. Feet on ground, you are one supposed to be giving tour in first place.” 

Hiccup didn't think he'd ever heard anyone sigh more loudly in his life.

“Coming.” Jack called. Cinching the silk around his waist before he allowed himself to drop sideways, legs turning like windmills. He stopped maybe two feet from the ground and unwound his hands from the fabric strands with a flick of his wrists. Dropping to the ground in a crouch before he rose up on his feet. A grin still on his face despite the noise of complaint moments earlier.

“So,” Jack drawled in a district American accent. Looking Hiccup up and down before he tilted his head at the young man. “You're the new lion tamer?”

“I prefer the term trainer actually.” Hiccup responded automatically. Jack shrugged.

“Okay, let's go.” He said spinning on his heel and giving Hiccup little option but to follow or get swallowed by the chaos.

*****

Hiccup could hear soft music coming from just up ahead. At first he simply passed it off as an auditory hallucination due to exhaustion. He'd been up late. Sacrificing sleep and a piece of what little remained of his sanity to try and make progress with Toothless- and well...he wasn't torn to strips and swallowed so...at least that was something. Hiccup sighed. That black lion was going to be the death of him. If the albino female didn't get to him first.

The arena had fallen silent hours ago. Abandoned by spectators; even the actual performers responsible for the entertainment had seemed to vanish into thin air. Leaving Hiccup with a sense of kenopsia. Drawn to the music and light, the promise of another human being like a moth to flame.

It was Jack,

Hiccup had only known the boy two weeks and yet he was not at all surprised to find the other here at this ungodly hour. Up in the air oblivious to everything but the soft music pouring through speakers hidden up in the rafters. 

Hiccup watched in curiosity. Loath to ruin the near-silence for Jack. Hiccup had never claimed to be the best when it came to reading people, but he'd have to be deaf not to hear the things people whispered about Jack when his back was turned- and worse occasionally said to his face. 

_ Troublemaker. _

_ Bloody show-pony! _

_ Can't handle responsibility. _

_ Wouldn't trust him to run this place when Nicolas is six feet under. _

Hiccup could see why Jack put on such a subtle mask of smirks and smiles and nonchalance.

Hiccup didn't see the mask now.

Jack looked...vulnerable.

There were perfectly good seats a few dozen feet away but Hiccup didn't have the energy to claim one so he sat on the floor instead.

Jack was so absorbed in his routine that he was oblivious to his audience until he was two thirds of the way through a wrap and step descent; the silk spun so that Jack was suddenly facing Hiccup and white-haired performer slipped from the hold of the material wrapped around his foot.

It wasn't very far to fall but still. 

Hiccup flinched, turning away and only squinted one eye open when he heard the dull  _ thud _ of Jack's body impacting with the safety mat.

Hiccup stood on his feet, making his way across the arena. Concern clear in his hurried footsteps though he couldn't help laughing just a bit. 

“Ha, man I'm sorry, I didn't mean to throw you off your game like that; you okay?”

Jack mustered enough energy to sit up long enough to huff and glare at the brunet, looking unamused for probably the first time in his life before he collapsed back onto the mat.

“Why are you here?” Jack snapped.

The usually serious tone had the Icelander furrowing his brows.

“I heard music and wanted to make sure I wasn't hallucinating- Was that ‘Moon Dance’ by Danny Elfman? Seems a bit no the nose given the name of the circus don't you think?” Jack seemed unimpressed with Hiccup’s ability to identify instrumental composers because he scoffed and rolled his eyes. 

“What?” Hiccup prodded. Defensive.

“Nothing.” Jack retorted. Somersaulting across the mat to stand on his feet. 

“Show-off.”

Jack's posture went stiff as stalked to the edge of the arena where Hiccup now noticed a small black remote.

The music died. “Show’s over. You can go home now.”

“You okay?” Hiccup took the tiniest of steps forward.

“Peachy.” Jack responded without turning to face him. He didn't give Hiccup time to respond either. “Why are you here?” 

“Trying to make progress with Toothless.” Hiccup admitted. Sighing as he rubbed the side of his face in exhaustion. “Which is going amazing as you can tell. Gods I don't know what that last circus did to him but-” Hiccup just sighed and shook his head.

“He  _ is  _ missing half his tail,” Jack pointed out. “so I'd wager nothing good. He'll come around.”

Hiccup blinked. That almost sounded like encouragement, a faint smile tugged at his lips. “Thanks.”

“And the albino-” Jack prodded. Causing the smile to slip from Hiccup's face and a noise of pure frustration to escape his lungs as he flopped down on the safety mat in Jack's place. “Hates my guts.” He declared. Glaring up at the ceiling.

There was a thud on the left side of the mat and Jack's voice was suddenly closer. The only indications that Hiccup received that Jack had taken a place next to him because he refused to take his eyes off the rafters.

“Why are you here?” 

“You keep asking me that question.”

“You keep answering wrong; I mean here, at the circus?” 

Hiccup sighed internally. He could walk away from this conversation right now. Jack would probably leave everything alone if he walked away..and yet. Here he was. Ask anyone else and he would blame his confession on lack of sleep but he found Jack easy to talk to. Once you got pass the cold shoulder.

“Long story short; I ran away. My dad- I love him I do... but...he's not the easiest person to have a conversation with...I figured. My life's already a circus so might as well join one.”

There was a heavy pause following the confession. He was expecting an apology for bringing up the topic in the first place. Or worse some attempt at sympathy. He was not expecting laughter.

Jack snorted. “Man, you're the textbook cliche!”

“Hey, I resent that statement.” Hiccup kicked Jack, it was really just a nudge. “Alright, your turn.” Hiccup didn't think laugher could start and die so fast..

Hiccup leaned up on his elbows to look at Jack's expression which had gone surprisingly distant as he slipped on his metaphorical mask. “You don't have to-” Hiccup began.

Jack cut him off with a shrug and a forced smile.

“Kind of do.” Jack answered. Staring up at the ceiling like Hiccup wasn't there.

“You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you I was a little bit envious...yeah your dad sounds difficult and you didn't mention a mom so I'm gonna assume she's out of the picture and not ask you to clarify exactly how...but..but at least you've still got one out of two…” 

“..J-Jack oh Gods I'm so-” There was suddenly a hand on his mouth. Stopping the automatic words from spilling out.

Jack dropped his hand a moment later. “See, that...that's the part I don't get...why do other people say sorry when someone talks about death. You weren't there it's not like you could have done anything. The boat sank, Mom, Dad and Emma died of hypothermia. I didn't. I got the nickname Jack Frost...started acting out because I didn't know how to deal with grief; everytime I tried talking to people about it the reaction always starts with I'm sorry. I don't want people to be sorry. I want them to listen…” Jack sighed. Taking a breath and closing his eyes long enough for Hiccup to see the remnants of gray and silver eyeshadow that made up Jack's usual stage makeup. The stubborn flecks of glitter that clung to his lashes and the corner of his eyes like tears.

“...I got shipped off to Russia to my closest living relative... and here I am.” Jack spread his arms to indicate the arena as a whole. “At least now when people call me an attention-seeker and a show-off they can blame the circus and I don't have to bring up my ‘tragic backstory.’” 

****

“How did I convince you to let me do this?!” Hiccup seethed. Glaring harder when Jack's snickering turned into outright uncontrollable laughter. 

Hiccup didn't see what was so funny about it but that probably had something to do with the fact that he was the one tangled up in so much silk he might as well have been a fly in a spider web. He'd done everything short of ripping the fabric strands to shreds. Or manage anything remotely graceful.

“I recall that you were the one who wanted to try.” Jack retorted. Sitting on the low cement wall that separated the seats from the rest of the arena.

“Oh shut up!” Hiccup demanded. Practically yelling in defense of his damaged pride. “You make it look so easy.” 

“Because I've had years of practice and a Russian couch named Svetlana; hired by my dear old grandfather to make my life a personal Hell. I'm going easy on you, I haven't even yelled at you at all yet. Much less in Russian.”

It was Hiccup’s turn to snicker. “I'm sure my dad yelling in Icelandic is a close second.”

This comment lead them both into a silence broken only by Hiccup's own muttered curses at the fabric twisted around his limbs.

That was until Jack hit the cement wall with a wooden stick. Resulting in the sound of splintering wood echoing in the near silence. Hiccup hadn't been expecting it and so he flinched though he would later deny it.

He raised an eyebrow at Jack when the teen flung away the remains of the abused stick and began ranting in him in nearly flawless Russian. 

“Ya tebe pokazhu gde raki zimuyut!” Jack shouted. Abandoning his place atop the wall and pacing towards Hiccup. 

“What does that mean?”

“‘I will show you where lobsters spend the winter.’ ”

Hiccup sputtered. Throwing his head back to laugh at the ceiling “T-that's- the most ridiculous threat I've ever heard!”

Jack scowled. “Vot gde sobaka zaryta.” 

“English please, elskan mín.”

Jack shook his head affectionately. Pacing around Hiccup to examine the extent of the mess he'd gotten into. 

“‘Here's where the dog is buried.’ ”

“...Okay, I'll admit. That one was a bit more morbid. Remind me not to get on your grandfather’s bad side.” 

Jack grinned and poked Hiccup in the ribs. Making him spin. “Santa Claus doesn't actually have a bad side, and if he did the only person whose on it for life is Pitch Black.”

“The sword swallower? I thought his name was Kozmotis.” Hiccup cut in. Only for Jack to roll his eyes.

“You really don't get the concept of the nickname game, do you?”

Another poke to Hiccup's ribs. On the opposite side this time. 

“Vot gde sobaka zaryta.” Jack repeated.

“You already said that thanks, and my dog is back in Iceland so you can't bury him.” 

“No. It means here is the root of the problem- you haven't found your Center yet.”

“Is that some inspirational pep talk for ‘look inside yourself and believe’ because I'd listen a lot better if I was on the ground and not tangled up in this situation. Literally.”

“No, your center of gravity,” Jack chuckled. “Though I guess if you want to be a sap about it. Believing in yourself helps to.” Jack pushed him away and Hiccup swung like a pendulum. “Your center of gravity. Its the point in your body where gravity pulls you down. Knowing what it is lets you know how much force you need to overcome it and make it easier to flip in the air. The lower your center of gravity the harder it is to push you down or make you fall. It helps you balance. Becoming aware of it will make it harder for me to do this.” Jack poked Hiccup in the ribs a third and final time. After half a spin counterclockwise. Hiccup felt the silk loosen and he fell to the safety mat. Jack smirking down at him.

“Heyrði ég að hringja í mig, elskan mín?”

Hiccup opened his mouth. Shocked and flushing red as Jack posed the question in Icelandic. Not missing a beat.

“Já ég hringdi þér það.” Hiccup answered. Sitting up.

Jack grinned and shrugged. “Ég hélt svo.” He stated. Walking away.

“Where do you think you're going?”

The only response Hiccup got was a laugh that echoed off the walls.


	3. Seasons Come And Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This gathering in particular was of importance because it marked another three centuries passing. 
> 
> The Winter was to present its next successor; and unlike the other Courts whom carried the right to rule within their royal bloodline as most mortal kingdoms did nowadays.
> 
> The Winter Court was rigid in keeping to the most ancient ways;
> 
> A ruler was not Born.  
A ruler was Chosen.  
By the Moon.

I don't see why we have to go.” Astrid pointed out to no one in particular as the convoy of spirits representing the Summer Court made their way sullenly across the swath of snow covered ground towards the lake. Astrid hugged herself for warmth. Glaring up at the moon that not yet reached its zenith.

“The truce.” Hiccup replied simply, glancing at Astrid over his shoulder as he pushed a bare branch out of his face. Holding it for the rest of the convoy to pass without hindrance before letting the branch fall back into place.

The Autumn and Spring Court convoys were already gathered around the banks of the lake. The Northern shoreline remained empty the only spectator from that side of the lake was the wind and snowflakes.

Hiccup couldn't help but roll his eyes. Impatient muttering and other such displays of annoyance were made known as the moon climbed higher in the sky and still not even a snow fairy made itself known. Much less any of the Snow Queen’s court. 

“Who is late to their own ritual?” a faceless voice demanded. Though with some fifty or so nature spirits crowding three-fourths of the lake shore it was impossible to tell who exactly had spoken.

This was Hiccup's first time going to a truce gathering. Mostly the seasonal Courts reserved most of their interactions between their own people and the Courts of the seasons immediately preceding and following their Season.

Summer only had dealings with Autumn and Spring unless it was one of the four nights a year on solstice and equinoxes when the courts sent out convoys to the lake. 

This gathering in particular was of importance because it marked another three centuries passing. 

The Winter was to present its next successor; and unlike the other Courts whom carried the right to rule within their royal bloodline as most mortal kingdoms did nowadays.

The Winter Court was rigid in keeping to the most ancient ways;

A ruler was not Born.

A ruler was Chosen.

By the Moon.

Some of the more impatient spirits had turned back to the trees ready to head back to their homes and take shelter from the lonely bitter wind that blew from the north.

Hiccup was considering turning back himself despite the possible consequences for impolite decorum. Winter and Summer were on wary truce ground at best. Hostility at worse and while he planned to be more agreeable than his father on the occasions of truce. He wasn't going to bother risking freezing to death if absolutely no one could be bothered to show up.

The current Snow Queen melted out of the barren treeline like the snow she was named after. Her people following in her wake. 

Despite her regal bearing she appeared rather frail. The silver circlet on her head inlaid with diamonds and moonstone seemed far too heavy a weight for her to carry in any sense of the word.

Her silver hair shone in the moonlight washing over her already pale skin until see appeared wraith-like. She made her way to the edge of the lake and waded into the water. Up to her knees, her waist, her chest and yet the water made not a sound. Not a ripple. She turned her back on the convoy of Summer spirits; turning instead to face her own Court. Removing the circlet from her head and lifting it so the round moonstone at its center caught the light of its namesake. The beam of silver-blue light seeking out a person on the shore.

There was an echoing flicker with the crowd. A brief bright flash of light and the gathered spirits on the Northern shore parted like a tide. 

Shocked whispers ripples through the crowd when the Moon Blessed spirit reached the edge of the water and waded out to take the Snow Queen's outstretched hand.

The ruler of the Winter Court grasped the other by the wrist...and submerged them underwater.

Stunned Hiccup couldn't help but blink as the water swallowed up the body.

Some of the others seemed equally as shocked. Even more so when the Snow Queen stepped back onto the lakeshore.

“She's just going to leave them to drown?” Astrid whispered. Giving voice to Hiccup's own morbid thought. A thought that seemed confirmed further when a skulk of white foxes emerged from the barren tree line and dipped their muzzles into the water. There was the audible crunch and crackling of ice as the lake froze over.

Merida. The future heir to the Autumn Court broke for the group of dryads on the Eastern side of the lake. Hiccup only spotted her in the monochrome of shadows and moonlight because of her red hair. She was held back by her mother who chided in a voice loud enough for it to echo in the wake of the silence that had settled.

“You know you cannot interfere!”

Then silence reigned once more. No one moved. Nothing happened. Hiccup held his breath and waited. 

The figure rose from the lake accompanied by a soft near silent crackling of ice splitting apart. Lifted into the air by a gust of wind. Outlined by the light of the moon as he planted his feet back to the frozen lake.

Hiccup understood the reasons for the shocked whispers now.

This heir was young. Younger than him even.

Young and a boy.

In every tale he had heard of The Winter Court from his father and the more ancient spirits. In all living memory. None could recall even a whisper of any but a queen claiming the throne of winter.

The boy made his way toward the shore where the Snow Queen waited. She took his shoulder. Her other hand painting a crescent moon on his forehead in indigo ink.

"I name you Jokul Frost, heir to the throne of the Winter Court, Child of the Moon and Wind."

And then the Snow Queen turned into flakes of white and was carried away by the wind.

  
  


****

The next time Hiccup saw the young king of the Winter Court there was moonstone on his brow. A white owl on his shoulder and an Arctic fox trotting at his heels.

The winter spirit's expression twisted into disgust though less for Hiccup and more for what he had said.

"Jokul?" The spirit sneered and shook his head….seeming amused of all things rather than upset. "Formalities bore me. Please just call me Jack."

Hiccup was going to point out that he was technically speaking to Jack solely as part of a formality.... 

Perhaps a truce between Winter and Summer wasn't going to be as impossible as his father and the rest of his own people believed.

  
  


****

Hiccup didn't see Jack as much as he could sense the other spirit's presence. Though the fact that snowfall settled gently over him like ash as he stood and watched his own father's body burn on a boat set upon the waves….

Hiccup took the snow as acknowledgement of both his father's death and a greeting to him as the new ruler of his Court. 

Hiccup lifted his head to the sky and managed the tiniest of smiles.

  
  
  


****

  
  


Hiccup blinked at the teeth that were bared at him. The white wolf let out a warning growl as Hiccup took another miniscule step forward. Hiccup retreated. Palm outstretched in a placating gesture.

"Heel, Nuka. He's a friend."

Jack, flanked by three other white wolves emerged from the trees.

He appeared older. Though perhaps that was do to the uncharacteristically serious expression on his face.

Hiccup raised an eyebrow as the other wolf- Nuka- obeyed the command and retreated from Hiccup with a huff and any icy blue-eyed glare. Returning to the space at Jack's right side. Pressing prospectively against his side.

"Should I take this is a threat?" Hiccup gestured at the four Arctic wolves pacing restlessly around Jack and sniffing at the ground. Hackles raised. Ears pricked and alert.

Jack tensed similarly. Shaking his head. Expression almost pleading.

"Not a threat to you." Jack answered.

"You call me here, you insist that I come alone. To truce ground on a night that is not marked by a Truce Gathering and I find wolves teeth four inches from my throat." Hiccup crossed his arms over his chest.

"Nuka, Eska Suka and Attka will not hurt you." Jack reassured.

How Jack told them apart Jack had no clue.

"Nuka is just on edge, they all are. You simply startled him…" There was a moment of tense silence where Jack might have been expecting Hiccup to respond to this but when he did not. Jack sighed and began pacing like his wolves.

"...I-I need your help."

Hiccup's expression shifted from wary disbelief to concern and worry. Too focused on the restless winter spirit to pay much heed to the fact that the wolves had picked up on a scent and had all gone rigid, snarling.

"With what- Jack, what's wrong?"

The next few things happened so quickly that it seemed as if they all happened at once.

Jack opened his mouth to reply.

A twig snapped somewhere in the woods, causing Hiccup to turn toward the sound instinctively. Two of the wolves rushed past him; savage growls pouring from their throats.

"Jack?!" Hiccup turned to face northward. Calling out the name with alarm and panic but Jack had already disappeared along with the other two wolves. Not even a footprint to mark that they had been there a moment before.

  
  


****

  
  


The Winter Court stopped sending out convoys to the Gatherings. Any rare occasions that allowed for messages to be passed between the two hostile Courts Hiccup couldn't find anyone willing to risk venturing over the border to deliver said messages. No one was willing to risk the bitter wrath of winter.

No one seemed to understand that Jack held no ill will towards anyone or anything. Hiccup tried to push away the nearly constant dread that had twisted into his gut. Only tightening each time he recalled Jack's plead for help.

Help with what? It seemed Hiccup would never know. And with each year that passed with no word from any of the winter spirits. Hiccup grew more and more restless to hear news. Any at all. So desperate that Astrid offered to fly over the border.

And Hiccup let her but when she came back deathly pale, so cold to the touch that she wasn't even shivering and suffering from a sickness that pulled her nearly to the grave. Hiccup forbid her to try again and stopped all attempts to find out what was happening in the North.

Until the night a wolf appeared on his land covered in blood.

****

"Suka?" Hiccup exclaimed.

Not sure how he knew which name to call her by when he spotted the wolf limping across the meadow from the direction of the lake. She was honestly crawling more than walking. Jerking forward as though every step pained her- white coat gleaming in the moonlight bringing sharp contrast to the blood that speckled her fur like raindrops- but she was determined to not stop.

The convoy of Summer spirits halted with shocked whispers of distress when the wolf collapsed with a sharp yelp of pain. 

Hiccup broke away from the group. Half running. Half skidding down the steep incline of the hill. Kneeling in front of the injured wolf.

There was too much blood. Her breathing was already too shallow. Hiccup took the creature's head into his lap. Stroking her fur as she pressed her muzzle into his palm with an exhausted huff as she slipped from the world of the living.

Hiccup turned his attention north, to the lake. Dread clutching at his heart. He jumped to his feet. Glancing up in horror and confusion as the sky began to darken. The moon was being eclipsed! Hiccup's blood ran cold.

Jack. Jack was in trouble.

Hiccup crashed through the tree line 

The black draconic wings sprouting from Hiccup's shoulder blades flared out barely distinguishable from the muted grays and thick shadows that the world had become.

There was no one in sight. Something snapped under Hiccup's foot and he looked down and saw nothing. So he knelt. Eyes widening to take in as much of the remaining light as possible.

A wicked looking arrowhead glinted in the shrinking moonlight. Attached to half of a pitch black arrow shaft, the other half still under Hiccup's foot.

Hiccup pushed himself off of the ground. Guiding across the lake to the north shore.

"Jack?"

No reply.

Hiccup tucked his wings to his body warily pacing into the trees, managing to ignore the bitter wind that blew. Filling all the empty spaces in the air with a sound like mourning.

Hiccup froze. Kneeling on the ice-cold frost-covered earth as he beheld the shattered remains of a moonstone lying on the earth. The opalescent blue-white gem was blemished. Smeared with black; at first Hiccup thought it was simply washed in shadows like everything else. Until he picked up a piece of the stone and felt grit on his fingers his eyes narrowed to slits...black sand?…confusion and rage built inside of him until it poured from his mouth in a wordless primal scream. A dragon's screech.

The spirits marked the start of the start of the Dark Ages with the disappearance of the moon. Winter was silent and Summer was cold.

  
  



End file.
